61% of French adults say Islam is incompatible with their society and 79% support banning headscarves in universities, new poll shows
- Majority of French adults believe modern Islam is not compatible with society
- Number fell until Charlie Hebdo attacks, and has been rising steadily since
- Just six per cent think Catholicism is incompatible, and 17 per cent for Judaism
By Chris Pleasance
Sixty one per cent of French people believe Islam is incompatible with their society, according to a new poll.
That figure had been falling sharply until the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January 2015, and has been steadily growing ever since, an Ipsos survey found.
That is compared with six per cent of people who believe Catholicism is incompatible and 17 per cent who believe Judaism is incompatible.
France already has a nationwide law banning anyone from wearing a full-face veil, while several French Riviera towns attempted to ban full-body ‘burkinis’ in 2016, but the law was overturned.
Ipsos polled 1,000 adults over the internet between March 16 and 17, and published the results on Wednesday last week.
The survey shows that French attitudes toward religion are highly conservative, with 90 per cent believing that secularism is vital to the Republic.
Three quarter of those surveyed also thought there was too much discussion of religion in politics, and 72 per cent felt politicians should not openly display their religious affiliations.
While just 39 per cent of people believe Islam is compatible with French society, that number is significantly higher than it was in 2013, when just 26 per cent of people agreed with the statement.
The number peaked at 47 per cent in January 2015, around the time of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, and has been steadily falling since, according to Ipsos.